United States may take further military action in South Sudan to support security US citizens 231213

Posted On
Monday, 23 December 2013 07:53

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Defence & Security News - South Sudan

Monday, December
23, 2013 08:45 AM

United
States may take further military action in South Sudan to support security
of U.S. citizens.

United States President
Barack Obama told congressional leaders Sunday, December 23, 2013, that
he was closely monitoring the unrest in South Sudan, after four U.S.
service members were attacked near Bor, and said he “may take
further military action to support the security of U.S. citizens, personnel
and property, including our Embassy, in South Sudan.”

An American soldier stands guard as a U.S. military aircraft on the runway
in Juba awaits the arrival of American nationals being evacuated from
South Sudan.

Four U.S. troops
were injured in the evacuation mission Saturday when gunfire hit three
military planes in Bor.

The U.S. and other countries have been evacuating their citizens from
South Sudan. The U.S. has evacuated about 680 Americans and other foreign
nationals so far, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

Fighting continued
Sunday in South Sudan, where the country’s central government
lost control of the capital of a key oil-producing state, the military
said, as renegade forces loyal to a former deputy president seized more
territory.

On Friday, the UN sent four helicopters to extract 40 UN peacekeepers
from a base in Yuai, also in Jonglei, UN information officer Joe Contreras
said. One helicopter was fired upon and executed an emergency landing
in Upper Nile state. No casualties occurred.

South Sudan, which became independent in 2011 after decades of a brutal
war with Sudan, has been plagued by ethnic discord, corruption and conflict
with Sudan over oil revenues.

Although the south
inherited three-quarters of Sudan's oil production when it declared
independence in 2012, its oil exports are pumped through pipelines running
north, raising concern a rebel takeover of southern oil fields could
invite Sudan into the conflict.